Join Us at the Love IP Party: Good Music, Good Friends, Great Cause

On June 8th the Heart of Technology (HOT) is visiting San Francisco, CA. The folks we're helping this time are in need of our assistance: disadvantaged youth, specifically those at the age of 18 leaving foster care and transitioning to San Jose State University.

Can you image graduating from High School and almost immediately being out on your own with no one to support you? What chance do these young adults have of getting a college education and breaking the cycle of poverty, broken homes and lack of hope? These young people find themselves in this situation through no fault of their own.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to do the commencement speech at the SJSU engineering school and learned about the demographics of their graduating class. As many of you know, SJSU is the third leg in Silicon Valley universities along with Stanford and Berkeley that graduate most of our engineers. San Jose State’s Charles W. Davidson College of Engineeringalso received top marks, ranking second in the nation among public engineering programs offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

The demographic statistics about SJSU are all about the American Dream. 70% of the graduating engineers are children of parents that weren’t born in the USA. 90% of them are the first member of their family to graduate from college. I can say that looking into the audience that day there were three generations attending. It was a celebration. The grads floated across the stage. From my perspective it was a chance to witness the delivery of a dream that brought their families to the USA. I am very proud of them and the University.

HOT focuses on folks going through transitions in their lives. We try to get funding for folks that need help. So when DAC IP Track Chair Mike McNamara suggested the San Jose State University Guardian Scholars program, we thought it was an excellent organization to support. Serving 35 to 50 youth emancipated from foster care, wards of the court, and homelessness, our goal is to bring awareness to this vital program and raise funds to support these young scholars as they transition to become the next scientist, engineer, health care professional or even Silicon Valley entrepreneur. We appreciate your help to make this happen.

Please register for the party: space is limited at this event! Be sure to guarantee your entry by making a donation of $50 or more! Your donation is fully tax deductible.